Home-ice advantage remains undefeated through three games after the Oilers prevailed 7-4 in a thrilling back-and-forth battle in Edmonton. We’re only three games into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and what we’ve all witnessed between the two clubs has been absolutely chaotic and entertaining. While chaotic, the Oilers had the last laugh in Game 3 thanks to a four-goal third period.
Not only having had the last laugh, the Oilers also took the first punch in Game 3. Like the Kings did in Game 1 and 2, the Oilers netted the game’s first goal early. This one coming just 2:49 into the game, Connor McDavid made a play behind the Kings net and shoved the puck to his linemate Zach Hyman. Hyman quickly found an open Ryan Nugent-Hopkins in front of the alone and Nugent-Hopkins potted the puck into the net on the blocker side past a lonely Darcy Kuemper. The push from the home team with a ruckus crowd behind them continued after the Nugent-Hopkins goal and after an avoidable Kings penalty with 11:20 remaining in the opening period, the Oilers capitalized immediately. It took just three seconds for the Oilers to find their first power play goal of the series. Directly off a Leon Draisaitl face-off win the puck made its way back to Evan Bouchard. Bouchard, who netted a power-play goal against the Kings in the regular season rifled a slap shot with a Corey Perry net-front screen and found the back of the net going low-blocker side. Unfazed by the two-goal deficit, the Kings kept calm and stuck to their game. In doing so, the Kings cut the Oilers lead to 2-1 late in the first period during 4-on-4 play. After coincidental slashing minors were calling Draisaitl and Joel Edmundson with 3:08 to go in the period, Adrian Kempe came up clutch yet again. Taking advantage of a miscommunication defensively but the Oilers, Kempe received a pass from Drew Doughty wide open in the slot and roofed the puck short-side high past Calvin Pickard. The Oilers led 12-10 in shots and 2-1 on the scoreboard after 20 minutes.
The Kings furious comeback continued in the second period beginning with Kevin Fiala’s power-play goal. Again capitalizing on an Evander Kane minor penalty, Fiala found the energy at the end of a long shift and beat Pickard in the same spot as Kempe with just 12 seconds remaining on the man advantage, tying the game with 14:17 to go in the middle stanza. The Kings then took the lead with 4:53 remaining in the period with their third consecutive goal. Again on the power play, Drew Doughty rifled a seeing-eyed shot from the point with the team’s second man advantage unit in the ice. Finding its way through multiple bodies and sticks, Doughty collected second point of the game and his 19th career postseason goal. Leading for the first time in the game, the Kings one-goal advantage lasted just 2:12. With the Oilers third line on the ice, Kane centered the puck to the front of the crease and Connor Brown tipped the puck in and over Kuemper to tie the game at 3-3. The Kings again responded and did so immediately. Retaking the lead just nine seconds after Brown’s game-tying goal, Trevor Moore received the puck from Edmundson after a Phillip Danault center ice face-off win and fought off Oilers defenseman Jake Walman on his way to the net. With one arm staving off Walman and the other on his stick, Moore one-handed the puck through Pickard’s five hole to give the Kings a 4-3 lead that they’d take into the final 20 minutes.
Enter period three and the Kings held off the Oilers game-tying efforts for the first 10 minutes of game play. What seemed to be a bit too soon to fall back into a shell with roughly 8:00 remaining in the game, the Oilers were dominating possession and were consistently in the Kings zone. Then, with 6:42 to go, the game completely changed. After McDavid gained possession behind the Kings net, he wrapped the puck around the net and through the crease to Kane. Kane, whose stick was momentarily tied up with a defending Anze Kopitar in Kuemper’s crease kicked the puck towards the goal. The puck went under and sprawling Kuemper and Kane used his stick to push the puck into the net, or so it seemed. The call on the ice was called no goal with the official call being the puck was kicked into the net. After an official review the call was overturned to a good goal. But that wasn’t it. Head Coach Jim Hiller incorrectly challenged the play for goaltender interference and the Kings were assessed a delay of game bench penalty for the failed challenge. Crowd fully reengaged, the Oilers needed just 10 seconds to retake the lead that they’d lost in the second period. Bouchard entered the Kings zone in the middle of the ice, dropped the puck to Draisaitl and continued towards the net. Draisaitl hit Bouchard with a no-look pass and the offensive defenseman one-touches the puck past an outstretched Kuemper for his second power-play goal of the game. Theo Oilers added a pair of empty net goals in the dying minutes, one from McDavid and one from Brown to win the game 7-4.
Kuemper made numerous huge saves and was tested constantly despite allowing five goals against. Kuemper stopped 29 shots on 34 attempts.
The best-of-seven series now sits in favor of the Kings at 2-1 with Game 3 in Edmonton at 6:30 PM on Sunday.
